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a biannual research series published by Emerald Publishing Group, is pleased to announce a special issue focusing on population health and care management approaches in health care organizations, with publication planned for summer of 2014.  

The mission of healthcare organizations has undergone a remarkable transformation from curing disease to caring for the wellbeing of populations. While health care policy has explored this domain before, notably in Health Maintenance Organizations, the current efforts to create Patient-Centered Medical Homes and Accountable Care Organizations represent a broader effort to move organizational responsibilities towards population health and care management. From a management perspective, this focus is challenged by the increasing burden of chronic disease, the aging of the population, financial models that demand new types of services without payment models to support these services, and the increasing complexity of medical interventions.

The 16th volume of the Advances in Health Care Management research series seeks exemplary research discussing organizational approaches to this new environment by exploring questions such as the following:

1. How have successful healthcare organizations reorganized the payment environment to fund the activities that support the health of populations?
2. What objective measures have been validated to measure the multi-disciplinarity of care delivered, and how is it related to the successful management of patients with chronic disease?
3. In what ways have organizations designed themselves as learning environments to support the development of population-minded employees?
4. In what ways has information technology been leveraged to play a role in the management of organizations that support population health?
5. How are organizations constructing care delivery teams to effectively manage patient panels with high levels of complex or chronic disease?

Empirical papers that extend and test existing theories, as well as those that offer new insights about how organizations manage the care of populations are sought. The focus of Advances is the management of organizations, and not the treatment of disease. We are therefore particularly interested in papers that use qualitative, quantitative, or combined approaches to explore the organizational questions facing managers.

Paper proposals will be blind-reviewed by the guest editors; accepted proposals that result in paper submissions will be double-blind reviewed.  The guest editors then will select the papers for this special volume on a competitive basis, based on the recommendations of the reviewers.  Specific guidelines for submission are provided on the next page.  Your email should request that the manuscript be specifically considered for this special research volume on population health management in health care organizations.  Send all submissions to the managing editor, Leonard Friedman, PhD, George Washington University, friedmal@gwu.edu.